McLaughlin: ‘insurance levy is crippling our clubs’

GAA clubs in Tyrone could be brought to the brink of collapse by financial distress, the county chairman warned last night.

The burden of levies imposed by Croke Park is having a crippling effect on some units, Ciarán McLaughlin told delegates at the annual convention in Donaghmore.

But he cautioned that a high level of insurance claims is a key factor in setting the levy imposed on the county by GAA headquarters.

“We can’t lose sight of the fact that our clubs are finding it increasingly difficult to sustain themselves. Our clubs are increasingly pressurised financially,” he said.

“I do ask Croke Park to attempt to reduce the insurance levy placed on our county. Failure to reduce this levy will eventually bring some of our clubs to the brink of folding.

“And I urge a radical review for the sake of all units across the GAA. If this cannot be done then a transparent process explained to every club is essential to help our clubs understand the levy on the Association as a whole and ultimately on their club.”

McLaughlin, who was returned for a second term in office, said he intends to instigate a review of expenditure with the aim of achieving a reduction across all activities to ensure the burden on clubs is not increased.

“When this review is complete, the incoming Finance and County Committees will have to carefully scrutinise the figures to ensure strict control of the spend. Having listened first hand to some of the clubs faced with high fees in March past, I will also be instigating a review of the structure currently used to calculate fees to decide if the system currently in use is the fairest.

“Insurance premiums are the key to lower fees. Thus I will add a note of caution to this review. The number of claims in Tyrone and the insurance payments received in this County are evidence that Tyrone will continue to be high on the list when the levies are set nationally for counties.”

McLaughlin also called for a change in the Qualifiers system which would give provincial champions a second chance once they are beaten.

Tyrone suffered sudden death elimination from the All-Ireland race this year when they lost to Dublin in the All-Ireland quarter-final after winning the Ulster title.

“We all know that the team just didn’t get the luck necessary against Dublin. We all recognise that teams can have off-days.

“However the fact that 28 counties still get a chance to correct their off-day and four don’t still leaves an anomaly that has not been addressed.

“We proposed this motion at Congress in 2010 and thus any comment about sour grapes cannot be used. Further, any argument about extra fixtures is easily challenged, as one extra weekend at the start of August would not seriously impact on the club fixture schedule for any county.

“Provincial winners deserve to have an incentive and winning a provincial title is a magnificent achievement and one we are very proud of in Tyrone. I call on the Association at a national level to ensure that our provincial championships’ value is not diluted by ensuring all teams are treated equally.”